Utah's State Fossil: Allosaurus
By: Jeremy Rodriguez
  1. State and State Fossil
  • The state of Utah's state fossil is the dinosaur that lived many years ago: the Allosaurus also known as Allosaurus fragilis.

This is how the Allosaurus is believed to look like many years ago
This is how the Allosaurus is believed to look like many years ago

2. Description of the Organism
  • The Allosaurus looks quite a bit like its cousin the T-Rex however this dinosaur has small horns around its eyes near the tip of its long head which makes it look different then most dinosaurs.
  • Besides the horns the Allosaurus looks a lot like the T- Rex with its large head relatively short neck and its smallarms.
  • A common Allosaurus weighs about 4 tons and is extremly slow.
  • Also like the T- Rex the Allosaurus has extremly large claws on its strong hind legs.

3. Exsistance Period
Image of what the Jarassic period may have looked like
Image of what the Jarassic period may have looked like

  • The Jarassic period lasted from 199-145 million years ago.
  • The Allosaurus was said to live during 155-150 million years ago.
  • The Jarassic period was said to be a great period of large amounts of vegitation capable of supporting many species at once.

4. Preservation

How a fossilized version of a Allosaurus would look like in a museum
How a fossilized version of a Allosaurus would look like in a museum

  • The Allosaurus was preserved in layers of rock which had to be excavated by humans.
  • Over time some bones were chipped or broken entirely from mistreatment.
  • Once the bones were excavated they were preserved by being placed together, under ideal conditions, and displayed at museums worldwide.

5. Reasoning and Findings
  • The first person to find a full Allosaurus fossil is Ferinand Hayden
  • In terms of finding it as the state fossil, it was founded by a commite and the state who made it the state fossil in 1988
  • It was made the state fossil because of the fact that more Allosaurus fossils were found in places in Utah then any other dinosaur.

6. Sources (Fun Facts Underneath)
(n.d.). Retrieved from Utah State Library website: http://pioneer.utah.gov/research/utah_symbols/fossil.html


Rareresource.com. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.rareresource.com/allosaurus.htm


Inc., P. (n.d.). Jurassic landscape. [0]. Retrieved from http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/photos/jurassic-period/


About.com. (2011). Retrieved from http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/dinosaurbasics/a/allosaurusfacts.htm

Video Links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE4eAPobG4s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-4fnZnmZLQ

Picture Links
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=allosaurus&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&biw=1920&bih=871&tbm=isch&tbnid=uSVBLU_ZcgzE3M:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allosaurus&docid=y_MzVMZkO3EEsM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Allosaurus_SDNHM.jpg/300px-Allosaurus_SDNHM.jpg&w=300&h=220&ei=qYdvT5mNAcaBgweihsVr&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=166&vpy=176&dur=109&hovh=176&hovw=240&tx=127&ty=101&sig=114358847816720769003&page=1&tbnh=101&tbnw=135&start=0&ndsp=54&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=allosaurus&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&biw=1920&bih=871&tbm=isch&tbnid=78GJUTeOpKj0tM:&imgrefurl=http://www.rareresource.com/allosaurus.htm&docid=7mEyWZx84ryj-M&imgurl=http://www.rareresource.com/images/dinosaurs/allosaurus-dinosaur.png&w=500&h=350&ei=3bVvT5OKNInH0AGSn8HiBw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=442&sig=114358847816720769003&page=1&tbnh=95&tbnw=135&start=0&ndsp=54&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=72&ty=37



http://www.google.com/imgres?q=jurassic+period&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&biw=1920&bih=871&tbm=isch&tbnid=5b8k8Pq4B2I9lM:&imgrefurl=http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/photos/jurassic-period/&docid=eGHbN48dxb3o9M&imgurl=http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/010/cache/jurassic-landscape_1028_600x450.jpg&w=600&h=450&ei=QLZvT6DwBanb0QHZt5TSBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=299&vpy=189&dur=55&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=140&ty=84&sig=114358847816720769003&page=1&tbnh=99&tbnw=132&start=0&ndsp=56&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0
Fun Facts about Allosaurus'
1. Allosaurus' used to be called Antrodemus
2. Common prey included the Stegosaurus
3. Allosaurus' usually lived for 25 years
4. Big Al is the most famous Allosaurus
5. Allosaurus' are said to be closely related to a T- Rex